


Rings

by asexualshepard



Series: The Adventures of Brynja Cousland, Warden of Ferelden [7]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Family Heirlooms, Happy, Jokes About Large Musical Numbers, Love, Marriage Proposal, Unexpected Proposal, again i have no idea how to tag stuff on this website so, fuck i don't know, happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 18:31:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4575219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexualshepard/pseuds/asexualshepard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"And then they were in her hands. Part of her feared she would drop them, as her fingers were shaking. The pad of one of her thumbs smoothed over the bands. She turned the rings and searched the inside, looking for the last shred of evidence she needed to confirm they were indeed what she thought they were. </p>
<p>And it was there.</p>
<p>The Cousland family crest."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rings

Denerim was nothing if not lively. People ran from shop to shop, children chased friends and animals in the middle of the road, and shop-keeps and customers bartered loudly. Bryn wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. On one hand, the noise made her head hurt and people kept running into her. On the other, all of these people going about their daily lives showed that—even during a Blight and a civil war—life carried on. No matter the bad in the world, people pushed through.

At this point, that’s exactly what Bryn needed to see. The last few days had not been easy, and she’d needed to consider doing things she never wanted to. She needed to see the people she was protecting. She needed to think about what was best for them. They came first.

Bryn had options, and that wasn’t something she enjoyed. She didn’t know what the right choice was. There was an endless list of situations that could occur and an endless list of things that could go wrong. There were no guarantees that things would work out the way they should. No matter whom she put on the throne, there was a chance that it would go awry at the drop of a pin. She had no control over how this went.

So, she wandered through the marketplace, watching. She’d thought about asking Alistair to go with her—to help calm her thoughts—but she needed a head clear of him. She couldn’t think about what she wanted at this stage, she needed to think about Ferelden.

The marketplace was more crowded than it had been the last time she was there. She supposed that the swell in population was due to all of the nobles coming into town for the Landsmeet. Bryn felt too large in her armor, but she knew better than to wander out without some form of protection. Many people supported her, but there were still those who didn’t, and she didn’t expect Loghain to play fair.

Slowly, she made her way through the large plaza, listening to shop-keeps shout about what they were selling, advertising to the rich nobles of the Landsmeet the wonders they sold at their little stands. Though her mind was somewhere else, Bryn glanced at a few stalls. She bought a few enchantment runes from a tranquil and a necklace she thought Leliana might like from a man selling all sorts of baubles. It took some time, but she eventually found herself at one of the smaller stands—one that sold second-hand goods. She’d found places like this to be good for gifts, and she fully intended to find something for each of her party members.

“See anythin’ ya like, miss?” asked the shop-keep, tipping his hat to her.

Bryn smiled and shook her head. “Not yet, but if I see anything I’ll let you know.”

She rummaged through bins full of trinkets and stacks of books. She found a history tome for Wynne and a book of Ferelden legends for Leliana, and she discovered a line of statuettes that she knew Alistair would love—she just had to sort out which ones he had already and which ones he didn’t.

It was when she waved the shop-keep over to make her purchases that something caught her eye. Very few things at these second-hand stalls were kept out of reach of customers, and when they were it was because they were small and expensive, even used. This particular shop had a display case behind the keeper with jewelry and the more extravagant statuettes. All of the things in cases like those were ridiculously overpriced, so she hadn’t paid any attention to it while she’d been looking for her gifts.

However, two rings sat far off to the side, attached to one another by a piece of string. Wedding rings. One was a simple golden band, and the other was similarly simple but with a dark, green stone inlaid. Bryn had seen those rings before.

“Find everythin’ you were looking for, miss?”

Bryn’s eyes flashed to the shop-keep. “Where did you get those rings?” she asked as she pointed to the ones she meant.

The man turned and looked at them, then shrugged his shoulders. “Not sure,” he coughed. “We gets stuff like that all the time.”

Bryn could feel a sense of urgency rising in her gut. “Can I see them?”

The keeper sniffled and turned to open the case. Bryn could _feel_ the seconds ticking by as she set all of the things she intended to buy on a smaller stack of books in front of her, her fingers beginning to itch. _She knew those rings_.

And then they were in her hands. Part of her feared she would drop them, as her fingers were shaking. The pad of one of her thumbs smoothed over the bands. She turned the rings and searched the inside, looking for the last shred of evidence she needed to confirm they were indeed what she thought they were.

And it was there.

The Cousland family crest.

The air in her lungs vacated and she could feel tears coming to her eyes. For a while, all of the problems tomorrow would bring vanished.

“How much?” she inquired, her eyes not moving from the set. “Actually, no, I don’t care. These and all of that.” Bryn gestured to the items she’d set down moments earlier, and the shop-keep figured out the total for her purchases. She didn’t give it a second thought as she gave him the amount he asked for.

She practically ran back to Eamon’s estate. She wanted to share her purchase with the one person who would know exactly how she felt. However, she stopped by to give all of her companions the things she’d bought them before going to find Alistair. Leliana and Wynne both flashed her odd looks, but neither of them actually commented on her oddly energetic behavior.

And then she was running towards Eamon’s study, where Alistair took his post during the days. He was reading when she got there. Eamon was at his desk, scanning what was no doubt a letter from another noble, but Bryn didn’t bother with him. Instead, she grabbed Alistair by the hand and began pulling him back into the corridor, towards the room they shared (though Bryn was actually supposed to be bunked with Morrigan).

“Well, someone’s in a rush,” Alistair crooned.

She pulled him into their room and grinned. “Look what I found in the marketplace.” She held up the rings. As Bryn stared at them with fondness in her eyes, Alistair stepped towards her to get a better look.

“Rings?” he asked, one eyebrow raised as he looked at her. “If this is your way of proposing, let me just say I’m very disappointed. I was expecting an elaborate scheme that involved some sort of musical number.”

 “What? I—” Bryn blushed as she tore her eyes from the rings and looked at him. “Um…”

“Relax, love,” he chortled as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I was joking.”

But Bryn wasn’t so sure he was.

“What are they?” he asked, looking to the rings again and reaching up to push them around with the tip of his index finger.

Bryn swallowed the lump in her throat and shifted her focus to the rings again. “They were my parents’.”

Alistair smiled. “Now we both have something to help us remember,” he said, glancing at Duncan’s shield, which sat in the corner of the room with the rest of his armor. “How’d they end up in Denerim?”

Bryn shook her head. “Don’t know. Shop-keep couldn’t say. I’m assuming some of Howe’s men looted Highever Castle before they left.”

“Well,” Alistair began, “No matter how they came to you, I’m glad they did.” He kissed her temple this time, his hand stroking her arm.

Bryn was quiet for a moment, her mind returning to the decision she’d have to make in the morning.

“You know, I’ve never seen two people love each other more than my parents,” she uttered, looking closely at the rings. “Everything they did, they did together. My mother could have escaped with me that night, but she didn’t want my father to die without her.”

Bryn felt Alistair’s hand grab the one hanging at her side, his thumb sliding over her knuckles. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

It was then that Bryn realized she shouldn’t have gone to Alistair—shouldn’t have seen him until after the Landsmeet.

She wasn’t thinking about Ferelden anymore.

“Alistair?”

He leaned in to kiss her other temple. “Yes, my dear?” he murmured against her skin.

Bryn’s mouth went dry. “There’s, um, no musical number, but…”

Alistair leaned back again, his heart swelling. A gentle breath forced its way between his lips. He let go of her hand so he could instead place both of his gently on either side of her face, bringing her eyes to his.

“Are you sure?” he asked, stroking her cheekbones with his thumbs.

“I want to do everything with you,” she said.

Alistair grinned and quickly pulled her towards him, their lips brushing together in one of the tenderest kisses they had ever shared. Their noses touched in the best way. Alistair’s fingers caressed her temples. And then, when their lips parted, he was quick to instead press his against as many spots on her face as he could.

After he was satisfied, he reached down to take the rings into his palm. He grinned as he took the one with the green stone inlaid in one hand and used the fingers of his other to support her wrist as he slipped the ring onto her finger. It was a bit large and she’d need to get it resized before she could wear it regularly, but she couldn’t think of a place she’d rather that ring be.

Quickly, she did the same, taking her father’s ring in hand and sliding it over the swollen joints of Alistair’s ring finger. Bryn couldn’t say for sure, but the ring appeared to fit him perfectly.

And then Alistair was kissing her again, less tenderly this time, but no less joyously. She allowed herself to hold onto him tightly.

Still, a stone settled in her gut. She knew who she was going to put on the throne when they won the Landsmeet, and it wasn’t a decision she’d made while thinking about the good of Ferelden.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I don't think I've said it before, but these aren't really in any particular order. I just write them as they come to me.


End file.
